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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. drill — army training
  3. swing — music
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. tear — from crying
  6. game — a match
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tear — to rip
  10. wax — to grow
  11. swing — in golf
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. perch — the fish
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. drill — the tool
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. bark — to shout
  20. drill — a practice
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. swing — to play on
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — wild animals

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com